AFRIKA OWES
“Delivered guns.”
ALL SMILES: Defendant Jaquan Layne appears pleased with his arraignment yesterday alongside Tyrone Gibbs in Manhattan court.
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Authorities say a motor-mouthed gang banger gave them an incriminating earful over the monitored phone lines at Rikers, including delivering a crack-dealer motivational speech that’s as savvy as the sales-force pep talks at any Amway convention.
“Hug the block on the first,” accused gang leader Jaquan Layne, a k a “Jay Cash,” allegedly counseled a less-than-motivated dealer minion over the lockup’s pay phone a year ago.
The first — meaning the first of the month — is a good time to “hug the block” because that’s when crack addicts cash their public assistance checks, advised Layne, 20, who prosecutors say continued to run his crack business while in Rikers on armed-robbery charges.
“You gotta be out there in the morning,” Layne allegedly hectored. “The morning, the morning, from like the morning. Just sit in front of the stoop in the morning.
“You’ll catch all the morning flow,” Layne allegedly told his man on 137th Street, where the gang’s army of teen crack dealers allegedly commandeered apartment stoops and lobbies in the shadow of some of Harlem’s most famous churches.
” ‘Cause they’ll all come see you, boom, boom, boom, ’cause that’s the morning. That’s their first high,” he counseled.
Layne was one of 14 alleged gang members arraigned in the 137th Street gang takedown yesterday — many of them directly by Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance, who also presented the case himself before a grand jury.
Another of those busted was Layne’s boarding-school-beauty girlfriend, Afrika Owes, who was only 16 and a student at the prestigious Deerfield Academy in western Massachusetts when Layne allegedly used her to deliver guns among his soldiers.
Layne and Owes — who authorities said no longer attends Deerfield — were in the thick of the drugs and violence, according to the conspiracy and weapons charges against them.
“If shit gets crazy, let it go, let it go,” authorities recorded Layne telling the girl in a December 2009 call.
“Make sure, head shots only; head shots only,” said Layne, who was allegedly giving Owes advice as she prepared to ferry three firearms to Layne’s brother Malik, who is also charged.
“[I’m] just a gangster. That’s the life I live. I live this gangster sh – -,” Layne allegedly boasted to the girl. “[I] won’t be doing a damn thing but selling crack,” he told her of his plans after jail.
Other gang members also burned up Rikers’ phones with thinly veiled references to weapons and drugs, according to excerpts in the conspiracy indictment. In the calls, “bricks” translates as drugs, “toys” are guns and “chicken,” oddly, is money.